Dylan stared at him for several seconds before he said in astonishment "How can you be here?"

"I'm not here, " Gaheris said in the calm relaxed conversational tone Dylan remembered so well, "not really because I'm a hologram. Not long after Rev Bem left the ship Rev sent Mr. Harper a message requesting him to program this hologram," Gaheris said while pointing to himself, "as a counselor if the Andromeda's AI ever became so irate with you that she didn't want to talk with you. And before you ask, I am controlled by an independent program running in a virtual environment set up by a subroutine Mr. Harper added to Andromeda's core. So while I have access to all of Andromeda's data banks and logs I am not part of Andromeda." he said emphatically.

"So that was why Harper was asking all those question about our relationship." Dylan exclaimed. Dylan picked up his drink and toyed with it for about a minute before saying "But I still don't understand what I did to cause it though, somehow I've managed to get Beka, Trance, Harper and Andromeda all mad at me in one day."

"I doubt that you did it all in one day." Gaheris paused for a few seconds for his words to sink in before continuing. "It is more likely that this has been building up for some time and this reaction was only triggered by the day's events."

"That's basically what Rommie told me earlier today right after Beka got mad at me." Dylan responded while picking up one of the white Go stones from the bowl on the table by the playing board.

"And what happened that made Beka angry with you?" Gaheris asked as he motioned towards the game board inviting Dylan to play as they talked as they had done so many times in the past.

Dylan place his first stone on the board as he considered his next words. "It was when she discovered that I had authorized Andromeda to review not only her personal logs but also the the personal logs of Harper, Rev and Trance."

Gaheris looked at him thoughtfully and as he placed his holographic stone on the board he said "Is that all?"

Dylan continued to play as he said reluctantly "That's not really what made her mad. It was the fact that after almost 3 years the authorization was still in effect."

"And why was it?"

"Well I couldn't really trust them. Not after the way they tried to steal the Andromeda so they could sell it for as much as they could get for it."

"Were they?" Gaheris asked pointedly.

"Yes there is no question about it and not only that but a nightsider named Gerentex who was with them was planning to auction off all the nova bombs."

"No I meant were they actually trying to steal the Andromeda?"

Dylan hesitated in answering as he recalled his first meeting with Harper on board the Andromeda then said slowly "Well they said that they were salvaging the ship." As he said that Dylan had a pained expression on his face almost as if his teeth were being were being extracted without anesthetics. He quickly added before Gaheris could reply"But since I was still aboard they had no claim on the ship. So they were in fact stealing it."

"Really? If that was so then when you found the Pax Magellanic later that year you were going to steal it so you could use it to help build up a fleet for the restored Commonwealth, right," Gaheris said pointedly.

"Not at all. I was trying to salvage the ship when I found it and when I found out that there was a crew aboard I tried to remind them that it was their duty to help rebuild the Commonwealth."

"But according to the logic you used when saying that the others were stealing the Andromeda you were also trying to steal the Pax Magellanic."

"That was completely different situation. Gerentex, Tyr and his band of mercenaries were trying to kill me so they could take the ship." Dylan said defensively.

"And when you found out that the crew aboard the Pax , who were all androids programmed and controlled by Pax, weren't going to cooperate with your plans, weren't you planning to erase, or should I say kill her, then take the ship for you own purposes."

"Yes," Dylan responded after a few seconds thought, "but that was different. I was just complying with Commonwealth law and High Guard regulations."

"I hope you aren't going to stick with that rationalization on this matter." When Dylan heard Gaheris say that a look of surprise showed on his face as he silently mouthed the word 'What'. but before he could actually say anything in reply Gaheris continued "You know what happens to a government's or an organization's laws, regulations and property when they cease to exist."

"The laws and regulations no longer exist since laws and regulations can only exist within the framework supplied by the government or organization. The property that was owned by the government/organization belongs to no one. Therefore it becomes the property of whoever takes possession of the property." Dylan replied.

"Good so that means that Beka, Harper, Trance, Rev, Tyr and Gerentex couldn't have been stealing the Andromeda because it had no owner to steal it from." Gaheris was watching Dylan's reactions as he spoke. "And before you mention it you never really had ownership of the ship you merely commanded it for the High Guard, which in turn was division of the Commonwealth's government. So therefore they had just as much authority to claim the Andromeda as you had to claim the Pax. So are you going to persist in using that particular rationalization?"

Dylan carefully placed his next stone on playing board before replying petulantly "Ok I knew that they were just trying to salvage the Andromeda which they thought was a derelict ship but the crew of the Pax or rather the AI had remained on board so it wasn't a derelict."

"Another convenient rationalization for you to hide behind." Gaheris commented. "You didn't know that before hand when you had decided to take the ship for your use."

Dylan looked at Gaheris for a few seconds with an angry look on his face and opened his mouth as if to say something then closed it when he realized that what Gaheris had said was the truth. He had been hiding behind those rationalizations since Beka, Trance, Harper, Rev and Tyr came aboard the Andromeda. So he just nodded his head in agreement instead.

After a couple minutes of uncomfortable silence as they continued to play the game Gaheris said "So now that we have dismissed the excuses you've been hiding behind what is the real reason why you don't trust them?" As he finished asking that Gaheris made his next move setting the stone on the board hard enough to make it click loud enough to emphasize his words..

Dylan considered what Gaheris had asked while he took his time in making his next move. It had made him think of what he had asked Andromeda in the Enlisted mess earlier and her answer.

"Andromeda, do you think that I am prejudiced against Beka, Harper, Trance and Tyr because they are not High Guard officers?"

"Dylan why don't you tell me; are you prejudiced against them because they aren't High Guard?"

Somehow he knew that the questions had the same answer. An answer that he didn't want to be true. As he finished making his move he shook his head and hesitantly said "I don't know."

As Gaheris picked up his next stone he said "I think you do know but don't want to admit it." He watched Dylan to see what his reaction would be. After several seconds of of this he continued "Let me sum it up for you. First you enlisted in the Tarn Vedran Home Guard and made your way up to Lieutenant. Then you applied to go to the High Guard Officer Training Center on Tarn Verdra and we both know only the best qualified applicants get accepted there. Next you graduated with honors and got assigned to an Argosy frigate on a diplomatic mission which frankly everyone knew was a plum assignment for someone fresh out of OTC. Then at the end of your first tour of duty you apply for Argosy Special Operations and you get accepted on your first try. After more rigorous training you get assigned to the elite unit in Argosy Special Operations. After reaching the rank of Commander and numerous missions completed you get assigned, along with me, to take care of Ferrin on Mobius. Then after that mission you get promoted to Captain and are assigned to command the Glorious Heritage class Heavy Cruiser Andromeda Ascendant, the pride of the fleet second only to the Pax Magellanic. We both know that the real reason you were given command of the Andromeda was not because you were the best but because you were a politically reliable captain. Then after three years of what would nearly be called a textbook example of a perfect tour of duty you get ambushed by an overwhelmingly large Nietzschean fleet at Hephaistos. Following which you get stuck in the event horizon of a rogue black hole there for over 300 years. When you are finally rescued you find that the Commonwealth is gone and there is no more High Guard to go back to and that your rescuers were a group of out casts and little better than pirates and rogues themselves. Now here is the icing on the cake, you find out that these people are at least as good at what they do, if not a little better, than the best trained officers that the High Guard had to offer." Gaheris paused for a few moments then added "So here you are, an officer who was once proclaimed to be the best officer the High Guard ever produced has to be rescued by a bunch of untrained misfits who dare to be just as good as any High Guard officer ever was. How am I doing so far?"

As Dylan thought about that he knew that Gaheris was right and couldn't deny it. He picked up what was left of his drink and gulped it down before nodding his head in agreement not daring to say anything.

"Good, so could the reason why you don't really trust them is because they aren't High Guard Officers. More to the point you're prejudiced against them because they aren't High Guard?"

Dylan got up and poured himself self another glass of brandy as he considered his answer. After sitting back down he replied "If you had asked me that yesterday I would have said that there was no way I could be prejudiced against them for that reason." He paused a few seconds to take a sip from his glass before continuing looking as if his heart was being ripped from his chest."But after what has happened today I have to answer that yes I am prejudiced against them for all of those reasons you just mentioned.

"Are you sure that there isn't more to it than just that?" Gaheris watched Dylan as he made his next move in the game. Dylan stared at the board without looking at Gaheris or making any indications that he was going to say anything. Gaheris knew that he was just thinking things over and gave him time to do so.

As Dylan stared at the game board without really seeing it he thought about the question that Rhade had just asked. There can't be more to my prejudice than their not being High Guard or is there, he thought. He thought about how he had treated them in times of stress in the past. The first incident that popped into his mind was the first time they were in combat together with the Restorians who, at that time, an unknown enemy. He gave orders to go in to gather information while receiving enemy fire. This was what he had always done when engaging an unknown enemy when he was with his old Argosy Special Ops crew on the Crimson Eclipse before he had been assigned to the Andromeda. He would gather intel then get it back to the fleet. But that time he was the fleet and he shouldn't have given that order but when Beka, who had correctly assessed the situation, countermanded his orders he became defensive and couldn't agree with the order she had given Harper to get out of there. She had dared to be right when he was wrong which hurt his pride so he pressed his orders and nearly got them all killed. So what did he do he basically chewed her out for being right. Then later he pulled a dirty trick on her to get her to do what he wanted. A kind of trick that he would never have pulled on a fellow member of High Guard regardless of rank or whether they were in the Argosy Special Ops or not. He also remembered that after the danger from an unknown enemy was over and done with, that Beka was a merchant ship captain. Merchant ships don't go slugging it out with unknown enemies. Every instinct that Beka, and Harper had in that type of situation would have been to turn tail and run. The real wonder wasn't that they had performed poorly, the wonder was that they had performed at all.

He realized that there were many incidents where he had chewed them out for things he wouldn't have had they been fellow officers. He also expected them to behave like High Guard officers when they had never had the training or the discipline for it. He knew that they had to know what they were doing because the universe they grew up in didn't give second chances. Either you got it right and survived or you were dead, that was the kind of training they had. He was glad they had joined with him because he wouldn't have survived very long with out them in this universe that was very different from the one he grew up in.

As Dylan thought about all those things everything seemed to fall together and he finally looked at Gaheris and said "It's not just that they aren't High Guard but that they're not Argosy Special Operation's even though they're all every bit just as good at what they do." Dylan stopped long enough to take his next move before continuing "In some ways they're even better. Beka is the best slipstream and normal space pilot I've ever seen or heard of. Tyr is one of the best soldiers I've ever worked with. If Harper had been in the High Guard he would have been considered too valuable an engineer to risk on a ship; he would have been put in the best R&D facilities available. I don't know where to begin with Trance except that she is the most unique individual I've ever met. They all deserve better treatment than I've given them." When he had finished Dylan looked at Gaheris expectantly wondering what his response would be. Somewhere in the course of their conversation the Gaheris in front of him had stopped being just a hologram of him. Dylan now felt as if he were conversing with his old friend on the Andromeda before the fall of the Commonwealth.

To anyone who didn't know Rhade it looked as if he had no reactions to the answer Dylan had just given him but Dylan knew that he was pleased by the answer. Rhade picked up his next game piece as he said "So do you know how to begin to resolve the problem with Beka?"

"Well the first thing I need to do is to rescind the order authorizing Andromeda to access Beka's and the others personal journals. Which is something I should have done a long time ago." As Dylan said that he remembered that Andromeda had said something similar to him earlier.

"That would be a good start." Gaheris said with a satisfied tone in his voice. "Now what about your problems with Andromeda, Trance and Harper?"

Dylan first thought in reply to the question was to assert that the solution to his problem with Beka was also the solution to his problems with the rest of them. As soon as the thought came he dismissed it as just another way of avoiding the truth. He considered what he might have done to get Trance mad but at first drew a blank until he remembered that little more than an hour earlier he had dismissed her from her own office. Dylan sighed in resignation then said "I suppose that Trance is upset with me by the way I had dismissed her from her own office earlier. I suspect that my problems with Andromeda will be resolved once I start addressing my problems with the other. As for Harper, I haven't got a clue as to why he is mad with me or why he would want to punch me."

"I don't doubt the problems with Trance is pretty much as you have said but as for Harper," Gaheris stopped letting his silence express far more than his words could. He waited waited almost a minute of before continuing. "Let me use this as just one example," Gaheris said motioning to the nearby viewscreen as he spoke.

On the viewscreen Dylan saw Rommie, Harper and himself on the Command Deck. Dylan heard himself say "Tyr, report."as the Dylan on screen was watching the main viewscreen. Dylan remembered that he had been watching Beka taking flash.

Tyr's voice replied "Give me a plasma cannon and some shake-charges. I'll have her out of there in five minutes".

Dylan's image said "If we spook her, she could drop us right into a supernova. We have to find another way."

"What I want to know is how my security system was fooled into thinking command had been destroyed in battle." Rommie said as she looked at Harper from the command console. "It's the only way she could control me from the slipstream core. "

"Uhhhhh...well. Rommie, you remember when we first met you?" Harper asked.

Rommie replied angrily "When you tried to hijack me? Yes, Harper, I remember it well."

"You were open salvage!" Harper responded in a defensive tone. "Besides, we didn't know there'd be any High Guard leftovers on board. No offense, Dylan."

The Dylan on screen said in a shocked tone "You installed overrides to bypass Andromeda's security system."

"Overrides which you said you disconnected!" Rommie said as she moved closer to Harper in a menacing manner. "Overrides which - if memory serves, and it always does - you disconnected under my personal supervision!"

"OK, so maybe I didn't disconnect every single little override. I mean, we had only met you. Dylan was all very impressive, and uh, for the most part we were buying this restore the Commonwealth game, but, uh, for all we knew, he coulda been some wacko trying to take us on some insane quest." Harper explained

"Yeah. Yeah, like finding Tarn Vedra." Dylan added.

"OK, so we're paranoid." Harper said shrugging his shoulders. "So sue us. We needed a Plan B. You always have a Plan B."

"Yes, but my Plan B's WORK." and as the on screen Dylan said that Dylan became angry and a bit embarrassed as well.

Gaheris chuckled slightly and said "You have to admit that was a well planned and executed plan B."

"It was nothing of the sort." Dylan retorted defensively.

"On the contrary given what they knew when Harper installed the overrides that is exactly what it was and you knew it then just as you know it now. The reason it makes you angry is that some untrained mudfoot refugee was able to come up with and flawlessly execute a plan to take control of the ship from not only you but also from the ships AI. What is worse there was nothing that you the golden boy of the High Guard Argosy Special Operations could do about. That's what made you mad." Gaheris made another move then leaned back and said "I bet that when Mr. Harper went to Earth to help them revolt in an attempt to free his home world from the Drago-Kazov Pride it was the reason you made that promise to him, a promise you had no intention of keeping."

When Dylan heard that he was stunned beyond belief and could only wordlessly mouth a weak denial.

"Come on Dylan I'm sure that when you made plans for your fleet to engage the Drago-Kazov fleet you had designated a rally point for the fleet to regroup at just in case it became scattered. A rally point at which they were ordered to go to then wait until you and the rest of the fleet arrived or until you ordered them to either continue the attack or withdraw from the field of battle. And during the time you were waiting for your fleet to gather you knew very well that you had time to help Mr. Harper as you had promised and when you had promised that help. In fact Beka reminded you of that but you said gathering the fleet was more important. I'm also sure that you were counting on the fact that Beka wouldn't realize that any members of the fleet who went to the rally point in the first place would wait until you had arrived when you said that. Shall I quote what Col. Ranneg used to say at OTC. 'No plan of battle survives the first engagement with the enemy. That is why you must have at least one secondary plan to fall back on.'"

Dylan drained his glass of brandy in one big gulp as he thought abut what he had just been told. He knew that everything Gaheris had said was true to some degree at least. He also knew that he had been a lot harder on Harper than he ever would have been on even the worst High Guard officer or crewman that had ever served under him. It was true that Harper had deserved some of the reprimands Dylan had given him but not all of them. After pondering what he should do to remedy that Dylan said "I suppose that I should explain the whole thing to him, or better yet to all of them and apologize for my behavior."

"No!" Gaheris exclaimed emphatically. "That is the one thing you must not do, unless you want to drive Beka, Harper and Trance away while also risking permanently damaging you relationship with you ships AI and it's avatar. What you should do is apologize to Mr. Harper for making a promise you knew that probably wouldn't be able to keep. Just like you told Rommie you would but didn't when they returned from Harpers mission to Earth."

"How did you know about that? I had engaged the privacy mode before I went to talk with him." Dylan responded.

"Yes you did, but Harper knew everything you told him then and then when Rommie, Beka and Evie were in his mind they found out what you had really told him. Also Harper found out in the same manner that you knew that you probably wouldn't be able to keep that promise when you made it."

Dylan said "Oh." in a resigned manner as he looked apologetically at Gaheris.

"I think I will go now and let you think about all this and what you should do about it." Gaheris said. "Oh and if you want to get on the good side of your ships AI and avatar I recommend you let them hear you make those apologies."

As the hologram started to fade Dylan said "Gaheris."

"Yes." Gaheris replied as he reappeared.

"Thanks for setting me straight."

Gaheris nodded with a smile as he faded from sight. Dylan made his way to the bed then more or less fell into bed. By the time he hit the mattress he was already fast asleep.